IB-August 30, 2011 ? Not many people are giving Victor Ortiz a shot at defeating Floyd Mayweather Jr. as evident with the gamblers. In checking the odds this morning, depending on the sportsbook you can bet $100 to win $450-$559 betting on Ortiz. On the other side, betting on Mayweather you would have to put up $700- $750 to win $100. If you?re an Ortiz hopeful, now would be the time to place your bet.
I?ll go ahead and tell you right now, this is not an impossible contest for Ortiz to win, I absolutely give Ortiz a good chance to upset Mayweather.
There are fighters you can give up on, but never give up on a fighter that understands the business of being inside the ring. After the fight against Marcos Maidana, Ortiz was sinking deep into that burial cavity in the earth where you find fighters that shame themselves by quitting during combat. For Boxing is honor and Pride, two words not associated with being pusillanimous.
Memories are short when it comes to victories, to be amongst the handful of fighters known for greatness in boxing, you have to stay competitive and continue to impress as long as you are an active fighter. It will always come down to ?What have you done lately?. Unfortunately, when a fighter shames himself by quitting, that memory is not so easily forgiven or forgotten.
For Ortiz, his determination to show the world he did not quit in the fight against Maidana was strong. Ortiz came back with a vengeance, defeating Antonio Diaz, Nate Campbell, humiliating Vivian Harris and having a controversial majority draw against Lamont Peterson (Peterson down twice). Still the nightmare of the Maidana fight would not go away.
Ortiz then signed to fight undefeated WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto. You could count the number of people on one hand that gave Ortiz a chance at taking the title away from Berto. Pre-fight stories and talk were filled with how Berto would make Ortiz quit. It was hard to find a story that did not refer to the Maidana contest. On fight night, Ortiz not only silenced the critics by defeating Berto but he did it in superior fashion. There was just no way Ortiz was going to be denied victory.
On September 17 not many give Ortiz a change at defeating Mayweather but don?t be surprised to see Ortiz do the impossible.
Ortiz was the victim to poor promoting and management, he was fed inferior opponents much too long into his professional boxing career that when it came time to fight top caliber competition, Ortiz still felt all he had to do is show up and he would win. Ortiz could not handle fighting someone that is going to fight back. The Maidana contest was more of a rude awakening as to what the sport of boxing really is to Ortiz, something he was unable to cope with, something he did not expect.
Ortiz understands the business of being the person in the ring now. You don?t see him faking injuries, you don?t see him looking for excuses to bow out of a fight and you don?t see him asking his promoter for ?Selective? opponents.
Talent wise you have to give the edge to Mayweather but knowing what you have to do to win a fight can be the big equalizer.
